New York Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, in a guest essay published by The New York Times on Sunday night.
The endorsement from the moderate governor could signal a shift for the New York Democratic establishment to coalesce around the leftist candidate, who stunned the political world when he won the party’s primary in June. Other prominent New York Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries have to date been reluctant to support the 33-year-old state assemblyman from Queens, whose rivals have argued lacks experience and is too far to the left.
Hochul acknowledged her own disagreements with Mamdani in discussions since he secured the nomination.
“In our conversations, I heard a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow up safe in their neighborhoods and where opportunity is within reach for every family,” the governor wrote. “I heard a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable — a goal I enthusiastically support.”
Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and raised in New York, surged to victory in the primary based on promises such as freezing rent for New Yorkers and making buses free. His policy ideas, which include raising taxes on the rich to increase funding for public services, have led swing district Long Island Congress members Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) to say in recent weeks that he should create his own Democratic socialist party.
Hochul, 67, of Buffalo, is up for reelection next year and already facing a primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado. Her support for Mamdani could be seen as an attempt for her to gain support from the party’s left wing. It also comes at the expense of former governor Andrew Cuomo, for whom she served as lieutenant governor, and current Mayor Eric Adams, who are both running as independent candidates following political scandals. Guardian Angels founder and radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa is running on the Republican line.
Most recent polling shows Mamdani, who President Donald Trump has called a “Communist,” with commanding leads heading into the November election.
In a prepared statement, New York GOP chairman Ed Cox said that in supporting Mamdani, Hochul chose “an avowed Communist and anti-semite” for New York mayor.
“The worst governor in America defends her title,” Cox said.
Hochul said she and Mamdani are committed in the fight against President Trump.
“[We] will both be fearless in confronting the president’s extreme agenda — with urgency, conviction, and the defiance that defines New York,” Hochul wrote in her essay. “And we must never allow Mr. Trump to control our city like the king he wants to be. Anyone who accepts his tainted influence, or benefits from it, is compromised from the start.”
Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.
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